Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine: We will not lose this war
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“We stand and fight for survival. We are an independent state. We will definitely not lose this war”
Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s International Editor, speaks to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview marking the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine war.
Official figures put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed at 55,000 since the full-scale Russian invasion began, but that is believed to be an underestimate, with many more missing. The number of Russian soldiers killed is believed to be much higher. The civilian death toll in Ukraine stands at more then 14,000.
Repeated attempts at a peace deal have failed.
In the face of ongoing Russian aggression, President Zelensky remains defiant. Russia has started the Third World War, he says, and must not be allowed to win.
Thank you to Imogen Anderson and Jeremy Bowen for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Jeremy Bowen Producers: Imogen Anderson and Lucy Sheppard Editors: Justine Lang and Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Volodymyr Zelensky Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Hello, I'm Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's international editor, |
| 0:10.0 | and this is the interview from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:14.3 | the best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:18.4 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:23.6 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:28.4 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:32.0 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:34.7 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:38.8 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:42.0 | For this interview, I met the Ukrainian president, Volodymya Zelensky, |
| 0:46.5 | at the heavily guarded government building in the capital, Kiev. |
| 0:51.4 | In February of 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. President Putin doesn't believe there |
| 0:58.7 | should be an independent Ukrainian state. But the resistance President Putin's troops met was |
| 1:06.4 | far stronger than they expected, and four years on the war continues in Ukraine. |
| 1:12.4 | Official figures put the number of Ukraine soldiers killed at 55,000, |
| 1:18.1 | but that's an underestimate with many more missing. |
| 1:21.6 | The death toll on the Russian side is thought to be much higher, |
| 1:25.4 | although it's hard to find accurate information. |
| 1:28.8 | Attempts to reach some kind of a ceasefire or peace deal have so far not worked. |
| 1:34.8 | And around a fifth of Ukrainian territory is in the hands of the Russians. |
| 1:39.7 | But as you'll hear, President Zelensky remains defiant. |
... |
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